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Toward the explication of the value contexts of the community psychologies
Author(s) -
O'Donohue William T.,
Hanley Gerard L.,
Krasner Leonard
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.585
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1520-6629
pISSN - 0090-4392
DOI - 10.1002/1520-6629(198407)12:3<199::aid-jcop2290120302>3.0.co;2-x
Subject(s) - explication , value (mathematics) , psychology , epistemology , philosophy , computer science , machine learning
Value issues are inseparable from any scientific pursuit and they become particularly influential in the applied scientific areas of community and behavioral community psychology. The explication of value positions is one way of dealing positively with the ubiquity of value issues. The role of values in community mental health, community psychology, and behavioral community psychology are contrasted. Implicit value positions are entrenched in the terminology of community psychology and community mental health theory while theory in behavioral community psychology, because of its functional rather than structural orientation, does not contain the same level of value positions. Traditionally, value positions have been concerned with the quality of life, i.e., what makes up the “good life.” However, the worldwide crises of starvation, nuclear armament, and pollution necessitates an orientation to a more fundamental type of value, i.e., survival of the species or the opportunity for life. Through the explication of quality‐of‐life values, the public and psychologists designing community helping programs can evaluate the compatibility of quality‐of‐life and opportunity‐for‐life values.